Fastening device



Au'g- A. H. SMEBY 2,050,201

FASTENING DEVICE Filed May 17, 1934 I INVENTOR flaoz h' Smear.

W? .BQQMJMfb WM- ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE FASTENING DEVICE necticut Application May 1'7, 1934, Serial No. 726,064

14 Claims.

This invention relates to fastening devices, particularly to fastening devices of the clasp type intended for use as garment supporters and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

The fastening device according to-thepresent invention is an improvement over the garment supporter disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial Number 691,062, filed September 26, 1933 and embodies features which make it more comfortable and convenient to use and more economical to manufacture. The further objects and features of novelty of the present invention will appear fromthe following description and the accompanying drawing of a specific embodiment thereof, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the device supporting a stocking;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the parts disassociated from each other;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the parts disconnected from each other; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing, the device comprises two mating members A and B, the first of which is a male member and the second'a female memher.

The male member A'is formedwith arelatively long shank I!) with means at its upper end-here an opening |l-forming a bar at the top for securing it to an anchorage such as a supporting strap [2, and means at its lower endhere a head l3-adapted to interlock with a mating part of the female member B.-

The female member B is relatively short and formed as a loop with an interlocking opening M of such size that the required parts of the male member may'by proper manipulation be passed through itto engage the fabric of a garment such as a stocking IS.

The entire'load or pull imposed by the supported garment is transmitted through the shank of the male member and its anchorage strap, so that the female member may functionally consist only of a loop; but it is desirable toflsecure it in the assembly nearthe male memberin order that it will not bemisplaced and will readily suggest to the user by its-position the manner in which it is to be manipulated to engage the male member. For-this'purpose a-retaining member may. be provided. The retaining member should allow complete freedom of movement to the female member. It may consist of a flexible strap l6, preferably of flat material.

The female member at its upper end is-providecl with means for attaching it to the flexi- 5 ble strap l6.- It is desirable from a manufacturing standpoint as Well as from. the standpoint of appearance and utility to avoid stitching, so as herein shown the female member is provid'ed'with a tongue I! bent back from'the 10 upper edge of the opening [4 toward the under surface of the female member. One end of the strap i6 is engaged and held between the tongue l'l and the top of the female member, there being a roughening on the inside of the bend to 15 hold the strap fast. Preferably this roughening is'formed only on the tongue in orderthat-the outer face of the female member which is exposed to view may appear perfectly smooth or show any fanciful design thatmay be desired. 20 As illustrated, the roughening consists of small rectangular projections l8 punched into the tongue near its end. They are placed near the end'in order that they may engage the strap even if'by accidentin assembly the strap should not be forced all the way into the bend to the rootof the tongue.

The other end of the strap I6 is secured in any suitable manner and at any suitable place to the assembly. It has sufiicient slack-either by inherent elasticity of material or by adequate length-of material to permit it to cooperate properly with the male member. The strap [6 does not take any part of the pull imposed by the supported garment. A convenient way of securing. the strap I6 to the assembly is to pass it in a loop over the upper end of the shank of the malem'ember and attach it to the back of the male member. In this way the rear face of the male member, which is usually of metal, may be covered so that no metal can touch the wearer. The shank, as shown in Fig. 4, is made narrower than the strap IS in order that it' may be fully covered. The strap may be passed through an aperture at the upper end of the male member, for example the same opening. H which takes the supporting strap I2. The end of the strap I6 may be secured, as illustrated, in a reverse bend- IQ of the head of the male member; If desired, the interior of the bend may be roughened as by the rectangular projections 20 formedonthe rear element of the bend. This leaves the front or upper surface of the head smooth or available for any desired ornamentation. ;'I he projections are placed near theouter end of the bend for the same reasons as pointed out in connection with the female member. It will thus be seen that the entire assembly may be made without stitching since both ends of the strap l6 are secured by a clamping structure.

The head portion |3 of the male member comprises oppositely extending projections 2|, 22 which are ofiset in front of the plane of the shank In. The upper surfaces of the projections lie in approximately the same plane which plane is parallel to the plane of the shank ID. The upper projection or hook 22 in the present embodiment is formed in making the reverse bend l9 and the lower projection 2| is formed as an integral continuation of the upper element of the bend. By this construction the head of the male member is made to present a broad flat surface on its upper or outer side which gives it an attractive appearance, provides space for designs and disposes the fabric of the supported garment in a way to avoid undue strains thereon. The lower projection 2| forms the end extremity of the head of the male member and, being of a single thickness and elevated above the plane of the shank, contributes to the easy threading thereover of the opening of the female member in interlocking the parts upon a garment. The projections 2|, 22 are preferably rectilinear on their transverse edges so as to present broad parallel lines of engagement to the fabric. The transverse edges of the opening of the female member may be similarly arranged. In any event the transverse edges of both the projections 2|, 22 and the opening M are of considerable extent so as to distribute the strains upon the fabric of the supported garment.

A portion of the shank IU of the male member may be offset toward the rear as at 23 beneath the upper projection 22 to provide additional space for the fabric. This also adds to the appearance and feel of thinness and flatness of the device in use since this rearwardly offset portion will embed itself in the flesh of the wearer without any discomfort. It also makes a slightly better alignment of strain in the device since thereby the female member which clamps the fabric to the back of the projections 2|, 22 is placed substantially in the plane of the opening H of the male member which receives the supporting strap l2. The ends of the offset portion 23 are tapered to avoid sharp edges and to enable them to cooperate with the female member for the easy separation of the parts, as will be described hereinbelow.

Preferably the male and female members are both formed of thin sheet material and the edges of the openings are rounded as, for example, by turning their edges in the illustrated manner.

The width of the interlocking opening M of the female member B is made somewhat greater than the width of the projections 2|, 22 of the male member A in order that the projections may readily pass therethrough during the association and disassociation of the parts. The lower edge of the opening I4 may be made still wider to take any fabric material which may tend to bunch therein.

The lower end of the female member is extended to form a tab 24 to assist in the manipulation of the parts, particularly in the disassociation or release of the parts. In the present embodiment where the male member is formed of thin sheet material bent to shape the female member may for releasing be moved backward substantially in the same plane it occupies when in clamping position. The tab 24 in this case is made of such length that when it is even with the end of the lower projection 2| the upper edge of the opening M of the female member will pass over the end of the upper projection 22. In this connection it is to be noted that the lower projection 2| is made longer than the upper projection 22 to keep it from passing through the opening of the female member when the parts are clamped on the fabric as shown in Fig. 2. After the female member has been pushed back by its tab to the position mentioned, the pull of the material which is clamped will force its upper edge outward over the projection 22. The inclined upper portion 23b of the bend assists in starting the upper edge of the female member outward. Then as the upper edge moves outward the lower edge will move upward over the inclined surface of the portion 23a and assist in the releasing action. Obviously if near the beginning of the releasing action the lower edge of the female member has an extensive angular movement to cause the tab to move away from the rear face of the lower projection, the tab may be made of a different length. It is to be especially noted that although the present fastener is well secured against accidental release when clamped on the fabric it requires only a small angular movement for the association and disassociation of its parts.

As just noted the release is effected without any appreciable angular movement. The wearer is thus enabled to connect and release the fastener with great facility. Indeed the release may be effected simply by grasping the parts between two fingers of one hand and pressing them toward each other. In the association of the parts to clamp the fabric the long shank of the male member furnishes a convenient means for grasping and manipulating the parts.

The female member B and the opening I of the male member through which the strap I6 passes are so shaped and proportioned that the female member may not accidentally be pulled through the opening, it being realized that if supporting garments carrying the fasteners should be delivered to a customer with the parts disarranged there might be some difficulty in using the fasteners.

From the above description it will be seen that the present fastener is simple and inexpensive to manufacture; is thin and neat in appearance; furnishes extensive surfaces for engaging the supported fabric whereby tearing and distortion thereof are avoided; holds the fabric securely and increases its hold as the tension of the fabric increases; presents a broad flat comfortable surface to the wearer; requires only a small angular movement for its engagement and disengagement yet fully precludes accidental disengagement; and in general constitutes a distinct advance in the art. The fastener has been described with reference to its use as a garment supporter but it may have many other uses.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described in detail it will be understood that the invention may have various embodiments within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A fastening device comprising in combination, a male member including a shank having means at its upper end for supporting it and taking the supporting pull imposed on the device, oppositely extending integral interlocking projections on the lower end of said shank, connecting means supporting said projections in a plane parallel to and in front of the plane of said shank, a female member provided with an interlocking opening adapted to pass over said projections, said opening being relatively long as compared to the longitudinal extent of said connect ing means and the upper projection whereby the upper edge of said opening may pass over said upper projection before the lower edge of the opening engages the lower side of the connecting means when the female member is moved upward in a plane parallel to the plane of said projections, and a tab-like projection on the lower edge of the female member of such length that it extends slightly beyond the end of the lower projection when the upper edge of the opening clears the end of the upper projection.

2. A fastening device comprising in combination, a male member including a shank having means at its upper end for supporting it and taking the supporting pull imposed upon the device, oppositely extending interlocking projections on the lower end of said shank, connecting means supporting said projections in a plane parallel to and in front of the plane of said shank, a female member provided with an interlocking opening adapted to pass over said projections, said connecting means being inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the root of the upper projection to cause said female member to wedge therein for the purposes set forth.

3. A fastening device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said connecting means is also inclined upwardly and rearwardly behind the lower projection to cause said female member to tilt when moved thereover to assist in its release.

4. A fastening device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said male member is formed of bent flat sheet material, said connecting means consisting of a single thickness of the material, and said projections consisting of the material extending beyond the connecting means.

5. A fastening device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said male member is formed of bent flat sheet material, said connecting means consisting of a single thickness of the material, said upper projection consisting of a double thickness consisting of a reverse bend of the material, and said lower projection consisting of a single thickness of material formed as a flat extension of the outer portion of the upper projection, the end of the lower projection constituting the end of the sheet material.

6. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a male member of thin flat sheet stock including a relatively long shank, a relatively short connecting portion extending outwardly and downwardly at an inclination therefrom, an upper interlocking projection extending upward from the outer end of said connecting portion and then outward and downward in a reverse bend, a lower interlocking projection constituting a continuation of the outer layer of said reverse bend, and a female member of thin flat sheet stock having an opening adapted to pass over said projections, the space between said upper projection and the shank being only slightly greater than the thickness of the female member and the length of said opening in the female member being slightly greater than the distance from the lower edge of said connecting portion to the end of said upper projection.

7. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a male member including a relatively long shank, oppositely directed interlocking projections disposed in a plane parallel to and in front of the plane of said shank, connecting means between the lower portion of said shank and said projections, means at the upper end of said shank for supporting it, an offset portion in said shank disposed in a plane behind the plane of the upper portion of the shank, said offset portion extending from a point near the root of the upper projection to a point above its upper end, and a female member having an interlocking opening therein adapted to pass over said projections and clamp a fabric between the male member and itself.

8. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a male member including a shank, a head at its lower end, and means at its upper end for suspending it, a female member adapted to cooperate with the male member to secure a fabric, a flexible member attaching the female member to the assembly, and bent portions forming jaws on said male and female members for securing the ends of said flexible member.

9. A fastening device as set forth in claim '7 in which the inner layer of said bends is roughened to secure the flexible member, the exposed layer being left smooth insofar as said securing structure is concerned.

10. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a male member including a shank, a head on its lower end and suspending means at its upper end, a female member adapted to cooperate with said head to secure a fabric, a flexible member attaching said female member to the assembly, a bend in said male member forming a part of said head, said bend constituting jaws to hold one end of said flexible member.

11. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a male member formed of thin flat sheet metal including a shank, a head at its lower end and a bar at its upper end for suspending it, said head being formed of a reverse bend in said flat metal constituting an upper interlocking projection and a downward continuation of the upper layer of the bend constituting a lower projection, a female member, and a flexible member securing the female member to the assembly, said flexible member passing from one side of said male member to the other near its upper end, said reverse fold constituting jaws for clamping the reversely turned end of said flexible member behind the head of the male member.

12. A fastening device as set forth in claim 7 wherein said offset portion is tapered at its upper end to assist in the releasing action of the female member.

13. A fastening device as set forth in claim 7 wherein said offset portion is tapered at its lower end to assist in the releasing action of the female member.

14. A fastening device as set forth in claim '7 wherein said offset portion is tapered at each end to assist in the releasing action of the female member.

' ADOLPH H. SMEBY.

CERTIFICATE CF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,050,201. August 4, 1936.

ADOLPH H. SMEBY.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, second column, line 28, claim 9, for the claim reference number "'7" read 8; and that the said Letters Patent should. be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed. and sealed this 15th day of December A, 1), 1.936.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

